Public Enterprises Lag Behind in Domestic Debt Repayment

Mar 26 , 2022

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) under the Public Enterprises Holding & Administration Agency repaid 96.3 million Br in domestic debts over the first half of the financial year. However, the figure is less than 30pc of the more than 250 million Br targeted at the beginning of the year. Officials say the low performance was mainly due to failure to make payments by the Ethio Engineering Corporation (formerly the Metals & Engineering Corporation). The Liability & Asset Management Corporation, set up last year to soak up debt belonging to public enterprises, paid off 27.2 billion Br in debts owed by the Sugar Corporation and the Chemical Industries Corporation. Much of the public enterprises' domestic debts are owed to the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). The aggregate outstanding domestic debt of public enterprises had reached 611 billion Br in loans and corporate bonds last year; the highest share is owed to the CBE. Late last year, the Sugar Corporation had placed loan applications with the CBE for 11.3 billion Br for rehabilitation works and servicing debts.